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Originally Posted by JohnR  Isn't the problem with 'back tension' - and even more so with 'get it on your back' - that it's put forward as The Answer. That back tension is proposed as being both necessary and sufficient.
I don't think you can achieve good alignment without using the large muscles in your back, so when alignment is good the back muscles are in tension. (In tension, Sam, which is a correct scientific description of the only way that muscles work, not tense which is a common usage which is describing something else - muscles in opposition.) So back tension is necessary - but it is not sufficient. You can get weight onto your back muscles and still not be in alignment, which doesn't do the job at all.
So back tension is necessary but not sufficient.
Correct alignment is both necessary and sufficient - so I'm with geoffretired, as above.
Correct alignment is easier to teach - certainly to juniors, which is where I spend my time - than which muscles to use to get there. The correct muscles get used, because it's the only way to get there!
John |
I thought I was going to agree wholeheartedly with you there John. I believe that correct alignment is necessary but not sufficient.
The archer could be perfectly aligned, but if the movement that creates the shot does not come from the right place then the result is poor shot. One can be perfectly aligned and then collapse/forward loose.